Google Maps: Local Cache Traps

As followup to my ~1 week ago writeup on the latest programs I'm testing on my Windows Smartphone, I tried yesterday to run a Sprite Backup session….which as in the past failed due to lack of available memory. I'd recently put about two dozen more contacts' information in Outlook, and at first I thought I might have once again pushed past the feasible database size threshold.

But then I thought, "this is ridiculous," and began exploring the files stored on my phone. Although I'd installed Google Maps for Mobile Devices to my memory card, the program still stuck its ~1 MByte cache file….on the phone. Thereby single-handedly explaining the out-of-memory problems I was having. A perusal of Google's support site confirmed my suspicion and, after I de-installed Google Maps, I was able to back up my phone without problem.

Bye bye, Google Maps for Mobile Devices. Let me know when, in your next beta version, 'install to memory card' doesn't mean 'install everything to the memory card but by far the biggest file associated with the program'. At least give me the ability to adjust the size of the cache, or to completely disable it if I'm willing to trade off storage space for program performance. Windows Live Search for Mobile seems to know what 'install to memory card' means….